"You all know why you came. Three days, three trillion Berries in turnover, nearly two trillion in profit. Truly insane numbers. First of all, we should thank the World Government. If you hadn't governed the world so poorly, how would we ever have achieved profits this crazy?" Rosinante said with a smile.
"Mamamamama, that's certainly true!" Charlotte Linlin laughed loudly.
"Well done, you bastards!" Whitebeard also said with a faint smile.
"Looks like the World Government isn't far from collapsing," Kaido added.
From the very start, the four great pirate powers presented a united front, using their momentum to suppress the World Government and the Five Elders.
"Don't casually dump all responsibility on the government, trash. If the world is this unstable, isn't it because of trash like you who act without restraint?" Kong said coldly.
The hot-tempered Kong showed no politeness at all and fired right back.
"Hahaha, letting us act without restraint only proves how incompetent your Navy is. A Navy that can't even stand firm in the New World can only be called a bunch of losers of the sea," Kaido sneered.
"The Navy merely made a strategic withdrawal from the New World. Just your Beasts Pirates alone are not enough to threaten the Navy," Sengoku said calmly.
"Oh? Want to fight? Then wait until your Navy dares to enter the New World again!" Kaido shot back.
"You!" Sengoku was furious, yet had no way to refute him. The Navy being driven out of the New World was an undeniable fact.
In truth, Sengoku felt deeply frustrated. The Navy had been forced out of the New World partly due to the pressure from the three great pirate crews, and partly because the Navy lacked sufficient deterrent power.
The Navy's greatest deterrent was naturally its highest combat force, the three Admirals of Marine Headquarters.
But now, Marine Headquarters only had him as an Admiral.
Although Sakazuki and the others already possessed Admiral-level strength, their official ranks were still Vice Admirals.
Do not underestimate this difference in rank. The deterrence of a Vice Admiral and that of an Admiral were worlds apart to pirates.
For example, when facing Sakazuki as a Vice Admiral, even if New World pirates were not his match, they would still resist fiercely. With leadership, they might even dare to attack the New World branch he guarded.
But if Sakazuki held the rank of Admiral, the Navy's highest combat force, many pirates would already lose half their nerve before the fight even began.
With an Admiral's deterrence, aside from the three great pirate crews, who would dare to attack the branch he guarded?
Many pirates would think twice just hearing the word "Admiral". Hearing that one had arrived, they would immediately detour.
Now Sengoku had to remain at Marine Headquarters. With no Admiral stationed in the New World, pirates there grew arrogant enough to attack the Navy openly.
Not only were Navy forces at sea attacked by New World pirates, even Navy branches in the New World were being organized against and assaulted.
With such rampant momentum, no matter how strong Sakazuki was, he alone could not suppress it.
Thus, the Navy had no choice but to temporarily avoid the storm and withdraw from the New World.
"Although the Navy must retreat strategically for now, dealing with one or two pirate crews is still no problem. For example, your Beasts Pirates. Perhaps after returning, we can formulate a plan specifically to strike at the Beasts Pirates," Tsuru said calmly.
"Try it if you dare," Kaido said coldly as he stared at Tsuru.
"Alright, enough about fighting. If you could fight, you wouldn't be standing here right now. If the Navy attacks the Beasts Pirates, then for the sake of stability in the New World, and to avoid being picked off one by one, the Whitebeard Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates would not sit idly by. That would become a battle between the Navy and the three great pirate crews. The Navy may be strong, but swallowing three great pirate crews is impossible. If the World Government supports the Navy, then Gray Kingdom, as part of the pirate side, would inevitably have to join as well. Even though Gray Kingdom is not a match for the World Government, once war breaks out, the World Government would suffer enormous losses. That is surely not something the World Government or the Navy wants to see, right?" Rosinante said.
"Rosinante, in the construction of Nightless City, the World Government holds a thirty percent stake. You unilaterally diluted the World Government's shares. We cannot agree to that. That thirty percent cannot be reduced," the long-haired, long-bearded Five Elder said.
If not for the restraint imposed by Whitebeard and the others, the Five Elders would never have demanded only thirty percent.
But with Whitebeard and the others present, the Five Elders knew it would be difficult to ask for more. It was better to secure this thirty percent first and then slowly plan ahead.
"When I originally gave you thirty percent, it was because you said you could settle the trouble on the Celestial Dragon side for me. I agreed to reduce trouble. But what happened in the end needs no explanation, does it? Not only did you fail to step in and resolve it, you allowed the situation to escalate. And you still have the face to bring this up to me. I really underestimated how thick your skin is," Rosinante mocked.
"There were people backing that incident behind the scenes, and the outcome was not something we wished to see either. We could not fall out with them just because of Nightless City. However, after this, I will make things clear to them and will not allow them to act recklessly again. After all, Nightless City is no longer what it once was," the Five Elder replied calmly. As Celestial Dragons, but also politicians, they had skin thicker than walls.
"After this incident, your credibility isn't very high anymore," Rosinante said lightly.
"Rosinante, you should also understand that Nightless City has already affected the global distribution of wealth. Thirty percent profit is the World Government's final bottom line," the long-haired, long-bearded Five Elder said.
"I can make some concessions. I can give you the original twenty percent, and I can even give the Celestial Dragons an additional ten percent. After all, I am of Celestial Dragon origin. When you get rich, you should still think about your poor relatives. However, the Celestial Dragon side must give me a guarantee. No Celestial Dragon is allowed to target me again. If anyone does, I will have the right to retaliate," Rosinante said.
Giving profits to the Five Elders or the World Government might strengthen the World Government and the Navy.
But giving profits to the Celestial Dragons would only result in them squandering it away.
That was why Rosinante intended to give that extra ten percent to the Celestial Dragons.
Yet upon hearing his words, whether it was the Five Elders, Sengoku, Garp, Kong, or even Whitebeard and the others, their mouths all twitched.
Comparing the Celestial Dragons to poor relatives, Rosinante was absolutely the first.
Well, if Nightless City truly continued to grow this insanely, then the Celestial Dragons really would become poor relatives.